When connecting a Thunderbolt docking station to a USB-C only host, you may notice that the dock appears to successfully connect, but some features may not work as advertised. These Thunderbolt docks work best when connected to a compatible Thunderbolt host, as the host port will guarantee have all the necessary functions required for the dock to work as expected. However, if you find yourself needing to use a Thunderbolt dock with a USB-C only host, here is likely what will work and what may not work as expected.
Features that will likely work as expected:
- USB ports (up to the maximum bandwidth that the host USB-C port supports)
- SD Card Readers
- Ethernet
- Audio Jack
Features that may not work as expected:
- Displays
- Not all USB-C ports support DisplayPort Alternate mode, so “data-only” USB-C ports will not support displays
- USB-C hosts that do support DisplayPort Alternate mode may not be able to support the advertised resolution and number of displays for the dock
- Host Charging
- Not all USB-C ports / hosts support Host Charging
- Downstream Thunderbolt ports
- These will typically only match the bandwidth and capabilities of the host. So if the host does not support things like DisplayPort Alternate Mode, or 40Gbps bandwidth, then neither will the downstream Thunderbolt port. It is not possible to “add” Thunderbolt capability to a non-Thunderbolt host via a dock.
When in doubt, consult the User Guide for your host to see if they detail the capabilities of your USB-C host.
